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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1;

W. MASON.

REVOLVING FIB-E ARM- No. 263,551. Patented Aug. 29, 1882.

(No Model.) v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. MASON.

REVOLVING FIRE ARM.

No. 263,551. v Patented Aug. 29, 1882.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

W. MASON.

REVOLVING FIRE ARM. A No. 263,551. Patented Aug.29, 1882.

Utvrra States aren't @FFICE.

WILLIAM MASON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE COLTS PATENTFIRE-ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

REVOLVING FIRE-ARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 263,551, dated August29, 1882.

Application filed March 25, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WM. MASON, of Hartford,in the county ot'Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a newImprovement in Revolving Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken in connection with accompanying two sheets ofdrawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be afull,clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawingsconstitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a sectional side view, showing the parts in their normalcondition; Fig. 2, the same immediately after the discharge of thehammer; Figs. 3 to 10, inclusive, detached parts; Fig. 11, side view,showing a swinging frame, to which the cylinder is hung, and the movablepart of the shield; Fig. 12, detached view, showing the pawl and thecylinder-lock 2o ing mechanism in front view detached.

This invention relates to an improvementin revolving fire'arms and lockstherefor, parts of which are applicable to other classes of arms, theobject of theinvention being to dispense with the independentspringsemployed in operating the trigger, pawl, and the cylinder-lockingdevice, and employ the mainspring for all these devices.

Another object of the invention is to avoid 0 the friction of the usualrebounding movement required in throwing the hammer backward after ithas delivered its blow, so as to take its nose back out of the way forthe movement of the chamber to present the next cartridge;

5 and the invention consists in the details of construction, ashereinafter described, and more particularly recited in the claims.

A represents the frame or receiver, which is of the usual form, withinwhich the mechan- 40 ism is arranged; B, the hammer, hung upon its pivota,- C, the cylinder; D, the ratchet on the end of the cylinder, its rearend working in a recess in the frame in the usual manner, and as seen inFig. 1; E, the trigger, hung 5 upon a pivot at b,- F, the sear, showndetached in Fig. 3. The scar (Fig. 3, perspective,) is hung upon apivot,d, in the arm G of the trigger. This pivot is a trunnion, c, on the pawlH, (seen detached in Fig. 4, perspective.) the trunnion extendingthrough the arm G of the trigger, and the sear hung upon the trunnionwithin a recess in the rear side of the arm G, as seen in Fig. 5. Thatpart of the trunnion which lies in the arm each side the recess iscylindrical, but that port-ion within the recess is cut away upon therear side,

as atf, as seen in Fig. at, and in broken lines, Fig. 1, which bringsthe sear to a bearing on that cut-away portion forward of a verticalline through the trunnion, so that any downward pressure exerted uponthe sear tends to turn the upper end of the pawl forward toward thecylinder.

The nose h of the sear hangs in a position to engage the notches in thetumbler-arm I of the arm, as seen in Fig. 1, so that by pulling thetrigger the arm G will be raised, as seen in Fig. 2, carrying with itthe hammer, because of the engagement of the sear with the tumbler, asseen in Fig. 1, and in broken lines, Fig. 2. As this movement will bemade against the mainspring of the arm, it follows that the resistanceto the pulling of the trigger and raising of the sear will be the powerof the mainspring, and this power will therefore be applied through thesear to the pawl H, serving to hold the pawl in connection with itsratchet while the hammer is being cocked.

The mainspring L is of usual form, one arm resting upon a seat, t,prepared for it in the receiver, or upon a part for independentoperation, as shown and hereinafter described, the other arm, is,engaging a link, I, which is hung to the rear end of a lever, M, as atm.The le- "er M takes its bearing on the hammer, as at a, in rear of thepivot, this hearing a forming the fulcrum of the lever M, theconnectingpivot at between the lever M and the link l being below thebearing a on the hammer. The other end of the lever M is hung byalink, o0, to the sear F, as seen in Fig. 1. The mainspring therefore tends toforce the lever M toward the hammer, and thus apply the power of thespring to the hammer in rear of its pivot. At the same time themainspring acts upon 5 the sear through the lever M,'tending to draw ittoward the tumbler of the hammer, and, exerting a downward force uponthe sear, also applies the power of the mainspring to the pawl H, asbefore described. Therefore by pulling the trigger in the usual mannerfor self-cocking the hammer is thrown back, the parts brought into theposition seen in broken lines, Fig. 2, and the mainspring compressed.Thus the mainspring serves as a spring forall the parts of the lock.

To retract the hammer afterit hasimparted its blow, and yet not retardthe action of the mainspring, that part of the lever M which extends upto take its bearing at n in the hammer is constructed with projections19 upon one or both sides, which extend into a recess, 8, in thereceiver, as seen in Fig. 6, and work in that recess in the movement ofthe hammer in cocking and returning. The hammer leaves the sear, or,rather, the sear escapes from the hammer, as seen in Fig. 2, when atfull-cock, and before the trigger can be released from the power of thefinger which pulled it, which leaves the lever M in its position seen inFig.

v 2, and from which it will return to the position seen in Fig.1 so soonas the power of the finger is taken from the trigger. In the recesses 8,through which the projections 10 work, is a stud, t, against which theprojections 10 will strike as they approach their extreme rear or normalposition, and these stops are arranged so that the projections willstrike them upon a point between the bearing n on the hammer and thepivot m of the link 1, which is the position seen in Fig. 7. Then as thespring continues its action it draws upon the leverM at the pointmrearward. The projections 19 operatingupon the studs 25 as a fulcrumcauses the bearing-point n of the lever to throw forward, as indicatedin broken lines, Fig. 7; and this forward movement of the bearing-pointn in rear of the hammer-pivot causes the hammer to turn backward, asseen in Fig. 1, and take its nose away from the primer which it struck,and out of reach of the next advancing cartridge. This final turning ofthe lever M upon-the fulcrum t brings the trigger as well as the pawl Hback for re-engagement. By this construction and arrangement the fullpower of the spring is continued upon the hammer throughout its stroke,and held upon the hammeruntil the trigger is released. Then in thereaction of the mainspring the hammer is turned back as by a lever upona fulcrum, and without the rebounding like movement in otherconstructions.

The hammer may be cooked by hand, and in so doing the tumbler-arm Istrikes upon the under side of the arm G of the trigger, thereby forcingthe trigger upward until the notch a on the tumbler engages acorresponding shoulder, to, on the trigger-arm, from which it will bereleased in the usual manner.

When cooking by the trigger the nose 71. of the sear engages the notchac, as seen in Fig. 1, and turns the hammer backward, as beforedescribed, and when it arrives at the position of full cock a shoulder,y, on the lever M strikes the scar and forces it forward out ofengagement with the tumbler, and so as to release the hammer to permitit to be forced forward, as before described.

The projections p on the lever M, and the recesses s in the receiver,are made to enable the body of the hammer to pass the fulcrumstud 13;but they may be otherwise arranged, it only being essential that thereshall be a stop in the path of the returning lever by which themainspring is engaged with the hammer, to serve as a fulcrum over whichthat lever will oscillate to turn its bearing-point upon the hammerforward and downward.

In order to open the recess in the frame in which the ratchet of thecylinder stands, the part N of the shield on one side is made to movebackward, as indicated in broken lines, Figs. 8, 9, and 11, in the usualand wellknown manner, so that when drawn back the cylinder may be turnedoutward, away from its position in the frame, or returned, and when soreturned the part of the shield is again moved forward to close thatrecess-a device well known in revolvers.

To make the return of the shield automatic, through the action of themainspring, I arrange a sliding T- shaped piece, B, one end, 2, of thecross of the T engaged with an inward extension from the shield,as seenin Fig. 9, the other end, 3, engaged with the bolt T,as seen in Fig. 8,this bolt being the lockingbolt which holds the swinging part of theframe that carries the cylinder, and is arranged longitudinally in thereceiver, so as to throw forward into that swinging part 4 when inplace, as seen in Fig. 8, thus locking that swinging part in place. Thisbolt is also a well-known arrangement.

The leg 5 of the slide R extends rearward, and is hinged to a lever, 6,as at 7, the lever 6 resting in a socket, 8, in the frame, as seen inFigs. 1 and 2. At its lower end the lever6 is constructed with abearing, 9, for the arm t of the mainspring, forward of itsbearing-point 8, so that the force of the mainspring is applied to thelever 6 forward of its pivot, tendin g thereby to force the upper end ofthe lever and the parts connected to it forward.

When the operator desires to remove the cylinder he draws back the partN of the shield by means of the finger-piece 10, as indicated in brokenlines, Fig.8, which,through the slide R, draws the bolt T backward andaway from its engagement with the cylinderframe, turning the lever 6 tothe rear, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 8. This movementraises themainspring bearing-point 9, and to that extent compresses the mainspring, so that when the parts are free the mainspring will act to force themforward. Thus the power of the mainspringis utilized to lock thecylinder, and the usual spring or springs for the bolt and for theshield are avoided.

It frequently occurs in attempts to remove or replace the cylinder thatthe pawl interferes with so doing. To overcome this difficulty and takethe pawl back out of the way, I make the trunnions of the pawl toproject beyond the opposite side of the trigger and cut its front faceflat, as seen at 11., Fig. 10, the flat face inclining toward thecylinder; and on the slide R, I form a shoulder or projection, 12, whichstands in front of the flat face 11 of the trunnion, as seen in Fig. 12,and free from it when the cylinder is locked; butwhen the slide R isdrawn backward, as for unlocking the cylinder, the flatt'ace 11 of theextension of the trunnions stands in the path of the projections 12, andis struck by it, and because of the inclination of the face 11 it willstrike above the center'of motion and turn the pawl backward, as seen inbroken lines, Fig. 10, and will there hold it until the slide ispermitted again to return, as in looking the cylinder, so that beforethe cylinder can be removed the pawl has been thrown back out of itsway, and will in like manner be thrown back out of its way before thecylinder can be returned.

The fiat face 11 of the trunnion is made because of its simplicity; butit will be readily seen that any project-ion or shoulder on the trunnionabove its center of motion will accomplish the object.

I claim- 1. The combination of the hammer and the trigger with a leverin connection with the trigger, and bearing on the hammer in rear of itspivot, and engaged with the mainspring, whereby the power of themainspring is applied to the hammer in rear of its pivot, and a fulcrum,t, arranged in rear of the lever and below its bearing-pointonthehamn1er,over which fulcrum the said lever will operate after thehammer has been thrown forward to impart to the hammer a retreatingmovement, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the hammer B, the

trigger E, the sear F, hung therein,and thelever M, hung by one end tosaid sear, its other end connected by a link. to the mainspring, andhaving its fulcrum in the hammer in rear of its pivot and at a pointabove the link-connection between the mainspring and lever, with thestud t arranged in the path of the lever between its bearing-point onthe hammer and its link-connection, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

3. The combination of the hammer B, the trigger E, the pawl H, havingits trunnion in the trigger, constructed with an eccentric bearing,f,the scar F, hung upon said eccentric hearingf in the trigger, and thelever M, hung by one end to said sca1',its other end connected by a linkto the mainspring, and having its fulcrum in the hammer in rear of itspivot and at a point above the link'connection between the mainspringand lever, with the stud t arranged in the path of the lever between itsbearing-point on the hammer and its link-connection, substantially asand for the purpose described.

4. In a revolver, the combination ofthe movable part N of the shield,the locking-bolt T, and the slide It, engaged with both the shield andbolt, and hung to alever, 6, taking its bearing in the receiver, withthe mainspring, one arm of which bears upon said lever 6 forward of itsfulcrum, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the slide R, in connection with the movable part Nof the shield, and constructed with a shoulder, 12, with the pawl H,constructed with a projection, 11, which stands in the path of saidslide, substantially as and for the purpose described.

\YILLIAM MASON.

W'itnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, Jos. (J. EARLE.

